Sd.Kfz. 10/4
The Sd.Kfz. 10 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug - special motorized vehicle) was a German half-track that saw very widespread use in World War II. Its main role was as a prime mover for small towed guns such as the 2 cm FlaK 38, the 7.5 cm leIG, or the 3.7 cm PaK 36 anti-tank gun. It could carry eight troops in addition to towing a gun or trailer. The basic engineering for all the German half-tracks was developed during the Weimar-era by the Reichswehr's Military Automotive Department, but final design and testing was farmed out to commercial firms with the understanding that production would be shared with multiple companies. Demag was chosen to develop the smallest of the German half-tracks and spent the years between 1934 and 1938 perfecting the design through a series of prototypes. The chassis formed the basis for the Sd.Kfz. 250 light armored personnel carrier. Approximately 14,000 were produced between 1938 and 1945, making it one of the most widely produced German tactical vehicles of the war. It participated in the Invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, the Balkans Campaign and fought on both the Western Front and the Eastern Front, in North Africa and in Italy. Sdkfz 10/4 The Sd.Kfz. 10/4 carried the 2 cm FlaK 30 mount on a special platform with fold-down side and rear panels. This platform was specifically designed for the Flak 30 mount and could not readily accept a Flak 38 mount or vice versa. To accommodate the gun mount the vehicle was both wider and taller than normal, namely 2.02 metres wide and 2 metres and weighed 4,075 kilograms empty. Four folding seats were fitted on the platform for the crew. Some of these gun mounts had a gun shield fitted. The ready ammunition bins fastened to the side and rear panels (four on each side and two in the rear) contained one 20-round clip each. It usually towed an ammunition trailer (Sd.Ah. 51 - Sonderanhänger—special single-axle trailer) with 640 more rounds, the gun's sights and its rangefinder. Vehicles built in 1940 (only) were fitted with removable loading ramps, cable rollers to act as pulleys, and a reinforced tail gate to allow a Flak 30, mounted on a Sd.Ah. 51 trailer, to be quickly dismounted. From 1940 they were fitted with rifle racks over the front fenders and from 1942 these were given sheet metal covers as protection from the weather. Flak 38s were mounted on 10/4s beginning in 1941 although the platform wasn't widened until later. As the war progressed the guns were more often fitted with gun shields. Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Early vehicles (Sd.Kfz.10/4) were unarmored but later models (Sd.Kfz.10/5)were mounted with armoreddriver’s cab (made of thin 8mm plates) and shield for the gun. In addition to the ammunition carried by the vehicle, some vehicles towed single axle trailer. The Sd.Kfz. 10/5 carried the 2 cm FlaK 38 whose mount was wider, and lighter, than that of the Flak 30, and the platform was enlarged to accommodate it from 1942. Vehicle width increased to 2.156 metres, but the height returned to that of the normal vehicle. Initially vehicles modified with the wider platform for the Flak 38 did not have a special designation, but they were given one sometime in 1943. The earliest known use is 1 September 1943, but the older name lingered until 1 December 1944. The Luftwaffe ordered 293 sets of armor plate (Behelfspanzerung) for its vehicles in 1943. These plates covered the radiator, windshield and both sides of the driver's compartment and were fitted to both versions. Production began in 1939 for deliveries to the Army and Luftwaffe, although the exact numbers will never be known as they were often not broken out separately in the production reports. At any rate Adler built 1054 between 1939 and February 1943, although some of these were completed as 10/5s beginning in 1942. MWC was awarded two contracts for 975 10/5s to be delivered in 1943–44, but 13 of these were delivered as ordinary Sd.Kfz. 10s in 1944. Later the 3 cm Flak 103/38 "Jaboschreck" also built on the Sd.Kfz. 10/5 chassis. Category:German Equipment Category:Selfpropelled Anti-Aircraft